The BoM website subsequently recorded Canberra officially received 0.6mm of rainfall on the day, 0.1mm more than fell in my home gauge.

But BoM will claim its weather forecast was correct. In BoM language, "near 100 per cent chance of rain" means only that we'll almost certainly get at least 0.2mm.

To BoM, "8mm to 20mm" means only a 50 per cent chance of at least 8mm of rain, and a 25 per cent chance of 20mm.

So while everyone in Canberra can reasonably feel misled by the forecast, BoM will claim it was accurate: We received more than 0.2mm, and the rest fell on the wrong side of the percentages.

Lies, damned lies, and BoM rain forecasts.

Bruce Wright, Latham

I refer to the article "Government floats plan to recycle graves" (October 18, p3) about the ACT government's plans for the management of cemeteries into the future.

The article mentions that the ACT government would not retrospectively apply the proposed policy of limited tenure and it is passed off as some concession.

The legal facts are that the graves in the ACT are assets of the people who purchase them.

The government could only acquire them by exercising its powers of compulsory acquisition, which must be on just terms.

First, the compulsory acquisition of property can only be undertaken under certain defined conditions; it is not open-ended.

A change of policy because of the apparent inadequate management of the maintenance costs would probably not in itself meet these conditions.

Second, the measurement of just compensation would be difficult because, for example, after a certain time period the grave owners can reuse an older grave for further burials, so it is a perpetual asset.

The ACT government should accurately describe the situation, which is that it would have a long odds chance at applying the policy retrospectively and it would involve considerable costs in reflective learning through legal costs and the costs of grave acquisition.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

Friday, October 19, was the 40th anniversary of the Rhodesian Air Force's successful raid on a ZIPRA terrorist camp in Zambia used to train hundreds of Rhodesian insurgents.

A few months earlier these terrorists shot down a Rhodesian passenger aeroplane with a Soviet ground-to-air missile. The plane crash landed.

Shortly after, the aeroplane's survivors, including two young children, were shot dead in cold blood by the terrorists.

The Rhodesia Air Force raid was commanded by Squadron Leader Chris Dixon and the voice cockpit recording is on YouTube with a visual terrain facsimile. The clip is titled "Green Leader Raid On Rebel Camp InZambia".

The clip has some colourful language in it, though, but no worse than some shows on ABC TV.

Sqn Ldr Dixon died of cancer in Harare, Zimbabwe, on October 21, 2011.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

Oh no, not more excavation. We are exhausted, living close to Northbourne Avenue beside Condamine Street. Night after night we've had the droning sound of excavation.

By day we have detours wherever we go. Canberra, prior to losing a thousand trees, was lovely.

It was considered, with reason, to be a beautiful city.

Then we had cages everywhere, detours difficult to remember as they're changing almost daily. The place looks, 10 months on, like a permanent detention centre.

For those of us who tried to vote against the tram, it was already too late.

Documents were pre-signed to ensure the Chief Minister with his Napoleonic delusions of grandeur, making a folly of democracy, would get his 19th century tram.

By the time it arrives it will be so out of date we should be protesting more than we have.

The cost to a community stretched to breaking point to pay for this folly for now and decades to come, with a route eschewing the airport, the hospitals and the universities will go down in history as a vile deed against the population of a city originally planned for beauty and environmental sense.

For shame, Andrew Barr and all who cover for him.

What goes around in cruelty comes around. And so it will.

Renee Goossens, Turner

Nicholas Stuart's article regarding the PM picking a fight with Saudi Arabia ("Why we need the Saudis on side", October 17, p17) made some worrying points as far as the vulnerability of Australia to an oil shortage and the government's failure to face up to the problem.

However, Nicholas made a bad mistake when he gave the figures for the oil production of the various countries.

He stated billions of barrels when he should have stated millions of barrels and he gave the US production as $15.6billion barrels per day when he should have said 15.6million barrels per day.

Norm Johnston, Monash

It's good to know my fellow epistlographer, Col Shephard, doesn't yet have the NBN in Yamba (Letters, October 18).

All I have at the moment is a very efficient ADSL connection plus a trench dug across the front lawn, poorly remediated, with conduit upthe side-all wall with an NBN unit.

Fortunately the recent rain has helped the kikuyu creep over the dirt they dug up. Meanwhile, the real NBN experience is something to look forward to. Whatever happens I will compare notes will Col.

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

The ACT government should address transparently and publicly the specific, sound and practical approaches and pleas this paper's editorial and letters pages have made about reducing the plethora of dodgy building practices and associated quality and litigation issues being faced by commercial and residential building owners across Canberra ("Billion dollar dodgy building bill is unacceptable", October 19, p14).

The government's weak responses on these matters in recent days suggest it and its developer proponents are unwilling or unable to confront real issues in order to assuage the concerns and fears of the community and the construction industry.

However, it is time that the government faced up to the growing city-wide dissatisfaction and distress that these matters are causing by making public plans and statements available.

Sue Dyer, Downer

In his letter of October 19, Jack Kershaw very correctly emphasised the extensive scope of inspections and tests (I & T) which need to be addressed by "the latest ACT government building quality inquiry" ("Our $1b dodgy building bill", October 18, p1).

He inexplicably retains faith in this failed system. He wrote: "The I & T Plans must be the hands-on (not hived off) responsibility of every project or construction manager, head contractor, manufacturer, supplier and sub-contractor, and must be project-specific."

This could relieve the onus for remediation from the primary contractor or developer, further confounding claims.

The editorial of the day dismissed Mr Kershaw's argument, asserting "outsourcing building inspections to private contractors and moving towards a paper based compliance formula, as opposed to site visits, has been an abysmal failure."

The fundamental problem, identified by the local Master Builders Association is "operators who cut corners on quality and safety" and the need to "ensure existing building laws are enforced".

This can only be achieved by employing sufficient experienced and qualified government inspectors to oversee every stage of construction from the application onwards, rotating them through the various sites and charging the industry for the service.

G. Wilson, Macgregor

This is an extract from the Territory Plan (and it is carried over to the National Capital Plan): "R58. This rule applies to apartments. The floor or internal wall of a daytime living area of not fewer than 70% of apartments on a site is exposed to not less than three hours of direct sunlight between the hours of 9am and 3pm on the winter solstice (June 21)"

Why are developers continuing to put forward development applications that do not go anywhere near complying with that rule and why is the ACT government (and the National Capital Authority) approving them?

Is it somehow because the subject land is weasel-words zoned "CZ5" (ostensibly commercial use, with residential also permitted), or similar, with residential use being installed virtually completely throughout? This clear non-compliance is particularly occurring in new "showcase" residential developments on Northbourne Avenue, Constitution Avenue and City Hill, where new developments should be particularly exemplary with respect to occupants' health and well-being (the raison d'être for the rule).

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

So-called tax reform is getting press and momentum but seriously? Removing the income tax-free threshold because all tax payers receive it including the wealthy?

That is the sort of befuddled thinking that has caused the problems in the first place.

The extra workload for the ATO, Social Services and taxpayers in lodging returns for up to the $18,000 tax free threshold and providing offsets for the tax they would pay, would be enormous and totally unproductive, ie hopefully a zero tax impact.

If you want wealthy people to pay more tax, just increase the 37c in the dollar bracket.

It is the total amount of tax people and companies actually pay that is important, not how it is made up.

The GST was supposed to remove many taxes, that worked well (not).

So-called efficient taxes are massively misrepresented and result in inequitable outcomes.

Just look at the ACT reducing stamp duty and the massive impact it has had on rate increases.

What would be of benefit is the ATO putting even more effort into ensuring all high income-earning people and companies pay their fair share of tax, not wasting their time with these so-called tax reforms.

M. R. Arnold, O'Connor

In all I've read so far about the push for tax reform two consistent principles stand out: increasing taxes on the poor by removing the tax-free threshold and increasing the GST; and maintaining the loopholes that let wealthy individuals and corporations, including churches, pay little or no tax.

That we need tax reform is unarguable.

But what's being proposed isn't reform, it's just more of the same, only worse.

A fair taxation system is progressive – the more you earn, the more you pay – rather than regressive as it is at present, and moreso as is being proposed.

At the very least the loopholes that let wealthy people and organisations avoid tax need to be closed; a "Robin Hood", or Tobin, tax needs to be implemented to gather tax on financial transactions that are currently untaxed; and the regressive GST needs to be eliminated.

Now that would be reform.

I'm not holding my breath of course.

Fred Pilcher, Kaleen

Karen Hardy refers to the baby boomer aversion to Riesling, based on the "sickly sweet stuff" experienced in the 1970s ('Riesling showdown celebrates resurgence of a resilient wine',October 18, p8).

My recollection from Canberra Times wine columnist Chris Shanahan's course in the early 1990s was that wines labelled Rhine Riesling would be made from Riesling grapes and in a true Riesling style, whereas four-litre cask "Riesling" was more likely to be from humble sultana or muscat gordo blanco grapes from bulk irrigated production.

Riesling, Moselle, Hock etc were used as indicators of stylerather than dominant grape variety, and in Australia the Riesling style was sickly sweet.

Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra

I suspect senator Seselja and co were well aware of what the "it's OK to be white" motion represented before they voted for it, especially in light of recent comments by LNP colleagues regarding the "persecuted" white South African farmers and on African immigration in general.

I mean come on, a motion specifically decrying white oppression put forward by Pauline Hanson?

James Allan, Narrabundah

SANCTIONS NO SOLUTION

So, sanctions imposed by the US on Saudi Arabia, for its misbehaviour, could lead to higher prices for oil for the rest of the oil-importing world. As the US is a net exporter, no effect on its economy.

No doubt the sanctions will be put in place and the rest of the world will suffer, but the US will be great again. What next?

Bruce Phillips, Watson

JOB FOR PRINCE HARRY

Prince Harry as the next governor-general of Australia?

John Milne, Chapman

JERUSALEM BLUNDER

Why on earth do our prime ministers come up with something too dumb every now and then?

Mr Morrison, Jerusalem capital of Israel. Mr Turnbull, Republic when the Queen ... God bless her.

Mr Abbott, knight King Phillip on Australia Day, to mention a few. They are making Ms Hanson look smart.

Mokhles K Sidden, South Strathfield, NSW

BARNABY'S BENEFITS

Barnaby wants back, of course. His transition into opposition as returned Nats leader rather than current backbencher must have benefits.

Linus Cole, Palmerston

GOVERNMENT HYPOCRISY

The prosecution of Witness K and Bernard Collaery is a disgrace. They should be considered national heroes, for exposing greed and corruption at the highest levels of government.

The hypocrisy of the government accusing Putin of doing the same things that they did is mind-blowing.

Richard Keys, Ainslie

KIERNAN WILL BE MISSED

Vale Ian Kiernan, the "greatest garbo since Greta". Along with Bob Carr, Dick Smith and singer John Williamson, he was opposed to Big Australia.

He is greatly missed.

Jenny Goldie, Cooma, NSW

OUR LEADERS LACK VISION

When is Australia going to stop being a pale imitation of the US and stand on its own two feet? We seem to be governed by lightweights who lack the vision to see this country as strong and self-reliant.

Sandy Paine, Griffith

REAL TURNBULL BACK

It is great to see the real Malcolm Turnbull emerging from the right-wing fog that enveloped him in Parliament. Will that guy who used to shout his way through question time also emerge to replace the nice guy we now have as PM?

John Davenport, Farrer

INDONESIA'S THREATS

If Indonesia wants to make threats to Australia about our foreign policy in regards to re-siting the Australian embassy to Jerusalem, then let them. We can simply stop all our overseas aid to them.

Ian Jannaway, Monash

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